Sailing through phosphorescent
waters at night, I resisted sleep.
Wanting to keep awake, I would take
a walk on the deck to be swept up
in the beauty of it all –
crystal rivers flowing down
through evergreen forests,
everything glowing – islands,
mountains, waters. I would
breathe long, then freeze
in place in the vivid moment –
so much life flickering in the water
below, in the sky above – my heart
leaping, finding peace
dropping slow.*
In the alpenglow, my eyes
sought the horizon, island
after island, a glimmer
of the shimmer of sea lions
asleep on a rocky beach.
When I would reach out
my hand to touch them,
and up to touch stars,
and down for phosphorence,
I became pure flame.
*from “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” by W.B. Yeats
Diana Woodcock
Diana Woodcock has authored seven chapbooks and six poetry collections, most recently Heaven Underfoot (2022 Codhill Press Pauline Uchmanowicz Poetry Award), Holy Sparks (2020 Paraclete Press Poetry Award finalist) and Facing Aridity (2020 Prism Prize for Climate Literature finalist). A three-time Pushcart Prize nominee and Best of the Net nominee, she currently teaches at VCUarts Qatar.
https://www.dianawoodcock.com/